Hughes: Robinho can take the argy bargy in his stride

MARK HUGHES has defended Robinho against suggestions he can be bullied out of games.

Brazilian Robinho produced the least effective of his four appearances for Manchester City on Sunday when many observers felt he was intimidated by Wigan’s robust approach and failed to make much of an impact.

But Hughes insists that a player who has sampled the white heat of action for Real Madrid against Barcelona and Brazil versus Argentina can handle anything the Premier League has to offer.

Hughes said: “If players have not experienced away games against physical sides, it can be an eye-opener for them. But we are talking about top-quality players here.

“Robinho has played in huge matches all over the world in very intimidating atmospheres and I don’t think a great deal fazes him.

“He takes it all in his stride, he has great belief in the amount of talent he has, and rightly so.

“He understands that against any team he can have an effect on a game.”

Hughes pointed to the failure of City’s other players to provide the right service as the main reason for Robinho’s peripheral display, rather than any lack of the right mental attitude from the record £32.5million signing, who had just returned from a flying visit back to Brazil to sort out family matters.

Hughes added: “He was always wanting to receive the ball, he always wanted to get on the ball and that shows he has bravery both in and out of possession. He’s quite prepared to work for the cause and if we can get him in good areas he will create for us as he has proved so far.

“In the second half, we didn’t have enough momentum to our play to shift Wigan around to create good chances.

“Our slow build-up allowed them to get bodies behind the ball and block up the spaces which they were quite prepared to do for long periods. We needed a little bit more craft and guile to create the right chances for our key personnel.

“Overall, we had a lot of possession but didn’t ask enough questions of the opposition and we need to be better in that respect.

“We are still young as a team, we have to grow and have to understand that teams will recognise the talented individuals we have and try to make life difficult for our better players.”

The Wigan setback followed an embarrassing Carling Cup exit to League One Brighton and has increased the pressure on City to avoid a third successive slip-up in the UEFA Cup against AC Omonia on Thursday.

City hold a 2-1 lead from the away leg in Cyprus.

Hughes added: “We are disappointed not to get back on track after the Brighton defeat.

“We wanted to build up a momentum, but we are not going to dwell on it.

“We have a big game on Thursday – it is very important that this club reaches the group stages of the UEFA Cup.”

Midfield anchorman Vincent Kompany is a doubt after picking up a knee injury at Wigan.

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